Issue 3, 2008
Prompt Corner 
The following pages document another occasion on which reviewers have to decide whether or not to mention race, and if so, whether to mention it as an issue or a non-issue. In his Almeida production of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, Michael Attenborough has cast Jenny Jules in the role of Ruth, the newcomer into a claustrophobic family circle by virtue of her marriage to Teddy, one of three sons of the tyrannical Max. Jules is black.
Flattering
A majority of reviews take note of this decision, but few do much more. It's also interesting to see how these various approaches break down numerically. At least seven of the nine male reviewers write about it (John Peter may be making an oblique allusion when he refers to Ruth as "Queen of the Night', maybe not); four of the six female critics don't, and a fifth (Georgina Brown) merely mentions it and no more. Many of those who do acknowledge Jules' race seem a little nervous about doing so and "balance" it with a flattering description of Jules herself: she, as distinct from her performance, is variously lauded as "coolly stylish", "handsome", "beautiful" and "elegant". All of which is true, but not necessarily relevant: the character of Ruth may be called upon to exhibit such characteristics, but ascribing them to the performer herself seems to go a step further.
...Unlike most of the meditations upon the casting decision. A handful of reviews say that it adds an extra dimension to the family's reception of Ruth (more than one piece uses the word 'twist" about this addition), but virtually no-one addresses it at any length. The honourable exceptions are John Nathan and Aleks Sierz, who themselves seem to come to opposite conclusions: John appears to suggest that Ruth's colour would be more of an issue in the milieu of the play, whilst Aleks finds that it informs the invective already launched at her by Max and his offspring, which includes "stinking pox-ridden slur, "filthy whore" and "a slut-bitch of a wife".
Accommodate
Most curious of all, Mark Shenton makes no mention whatever of the matter in his Sunday Express review, but three days after it appeared he published 900 words on the topic in a blog on the Guardian's site. His argument there grows a lithe vague, but he seems ultimately to describe the casting as "experiment and playfulness" rather than having any conscious resonance within the world of the play. But it seems to me implausible that such perspectives as those of Max, Lenny and Joey would lead to sustained abuse of a misogynist nature but not a hint of racism; I therefore agree with Aleks Sierz in inferring that at least part of their vitriol in this production is implicitly about Ruth's colour. And I think it's a testament to Attenborough's conception and the cast's performances that they manage to accommodate that reading without making it at all obtrusive.
One final remark on the subject: I'm afraid that, despite checking and double-checking both print and online editions, we've somehow managed to miss out Charles Spencers review, which evidently appeared neither in the print edition of the Daily Telegraph that we received nor (even now) on the paper's web site. This isn't the first time Charlie has suffered so, and he quite understandably gets the hump; at least on this occasion, I'm confident it wasn't actually our fault, and moreover thanks to TR's deadline schedule we can apologise about it in the same issue in which the omission occurs. The review will be reprinted as soon as possible.
Portmanteau
Race is indubitably present as an element in Roy Williams' Angel House, but it can be hard to tell where the character-based drama ends and the thematic fibre (about the racial dimension in public housing policy) begins. Nor does it help that Williams has written at least six or seven discrete strands of plot among the ten characters and three generations who live or have lived in the titular block of flats. He is not simply saying that drugs, violence and domestic fragmentation would not exist if there were a greater supply of decent, affordable social housing, but he is acknowledging that black Britons in particular have had half a century of raw deals in this respect, going back to the days of "No blacks, no Irish, no dogs". But as our attention pi ng-pongs from the sibling rivalry of a pair of brothers to their two absent fathers to one's imminent attack by his drug suppliers to his son's coming out to... and so on, we end up with a portmanteau play, a notoriously difficult approach to bring off in any medium, even before Williams spends virtually the entire second act having raw truths and reconciliations traded between characters in almost every available permutation. Yet as more than one review acknowledges, Williams is not only a fine playwright but a prolific one; he moves too fast for his mistakes to quite catch up with him.
Reviews of a number of productions from this fortnight are not reprinted in this issue, but are being held until the shows' scheduled visits to London where they will likely pick up more. The press opening of Shared Experience's revived War And Peace in Nottingham was slightly vexed, as a major regional venue eager for review appearances presented a production whose company would have preferred a concerted single strike; Nottingham reviews will appear together with those from its London opening in Issue 08. Similarly, the Liverpool reviews of 3 Sisters On Hope Street will be printed along with its Hampstead reviews in Issue 05. I hope the delay doesn't inconvenience you too much; it seems to make more sense to keep all the reviews together where possible.
Ian Shuttleworth | ian@theatrerecord.com
At the Back
There is no "At the Back" this issue
Contents / Reviews
Reviewed in issue 3, 2008: |
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London |
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THE BLIND New adaptation by Jack McNamara from the play by Maurice Maeterlinck (Future Ruins) |
Arcola |
4 Feb |
1 Mar |
16 |
THE DEATH OF MARGARET THATCHER New play by Tom Green |
Courtyard |
7 Feb |
2 Mar |
26 |
0100, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE Revival of play by Christopher Marlowe (Angels In The Architecture) |
Kensington Palace |
4 Feb |
23 Feb |
19 |
THE HOMECOMING Revival of play by Harold Pinter |
Almeida |
7 Feb |
22 Mar |
28 |
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Revival of play by Oscar Wilde Oh Royal Bath) |
Vaudeville |
31 Jan |
|
12 |
THE LOVER I THE COLLECTION Revival of plays by Harold Pinter |
Comedy |
29 Jan |
|
01 |
MEASURE FOR MEASURE Revival of play by Shakespeare (Reckless Endeavour) |
New Players' |
23 Jan |
16 Feb |
06 |
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Revival of play by Shakespeare (Theatre Delicatessen) |
295 Regent St |
31 Jan |
2 Mar |
20 |
THE MIKADO Revival of operetta by W S Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (Raymond Gubbay/Cari Rosa Co) |
Glelgud |
30 Jan |
9 Feb |
07 |
MILE END Revival of piece by Dan Rebellato (Analogue) |
Southwark Playhouse |
6 Feb |
23 Feb |
21 |
NEXT DOOR'S BABY New musical by Matthew Strachan and Bernie Gaughan |
Orange Tree |
8 Feb |
8 Mar |
32 |
PEER GYNT Revival of play by Henrik Ibsen (Ibsen Stage Co) |
Pleasance |
30 Jan |
17 Feb |
25 |
A PRAYER FOR MY DAUGHTER Revival of play by Thomas Babe |
Young Vic |
6 Feb |
15 Mar |
22 |
SPENDING THE PENSION New play by Andrew Neil |
Old Red Lion |
7 Feb |
23 Feb |
18 |
STRINDBERG IN HOLLYWOOD New play by Drury Pifer |
Pentameters |
5 Feb |
24 Feb |
11 |
TOM CREAN - ANTARCTIC EXPLORER Revival of solo piece by Aldan Dooley |
New End |
8 Feb |
16 Mar |
06 |
WEAPONS OF HAPPINESS Revival of play by Howard Brenton |
Finborough |
1 Feb |
23 Feb |
17 |
YOU'VE BEEN A WONDERFUL AUDIENCE New play by Andrew Syers (Drowning Fish Prods) |
Baron's Court |
31 Jan |
17 Feb |
31 |
Regions |
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ANGEL HOUSE New play by Roy Williams (Eclipse 11) |
Ipswich, New WoLsey / touring |
4 Feb |
9 Feb |
134 |
CLARINDA New musical play by Mike Gibb (Honest Toil Prods) |
Edinburgh, Scotch Storytelling Ctr. |
25 Jan |
2 eb |
140 |
THE CRUCIBLE Revival of play by Arthur Miller |
Bolton, Octagon |
1 Feb |
1 Mar |
133 |
DICK BARTON - SPECIAL AGENT Revival of play by Phil Willmott |
Homchurch, Queen's |
4 Feb |
23 Feb |
137 |
GREAT EXPECTATIONS Revival of adaptation by Jo Clifford from novel by Charles Dickens (Prime Prods) St Andrews, Byre I towing |
1 Feb |
9 Feb |
|
142 |
OF MICE AND MEN Revival of play by John Steinbeck |
Perth |
1 Feb |
16 Feb |
141 |
PARTS FOR MACHINES THAT DO THINGS New play by Third Angel |
Sheffield, Cmcible |
5 Feb |
9 Feb |
138 |
THE POLISH PLAY New play by Gavin Stride |
Farnham Makings I touring |
23 Jan |
23 Jan |
133 |
ROOTS Revival of play by Arnold Weaker |
Manchester, Royal Exchange |
4 Feb |
1 Mar |
137 |
SURVIVING SPIKE New play by Richard Harris, from memoir by Norma Fames |
Windsor, Theatre Royal |
5 Feb |
16 Feb |
139 |
WAITING FOR GODOT Revival of play by Samuel Beckett |
Manchester, Library |
5 Feb |
8 Mar |
140 |